'Live with Kelly and Ryan' kicks off new season, Seacrest's 1st as full-time host

WABC

Sandy Kenyon

Tuesday, September 05, 2017 04:43PM

Sandy Kenyon speaks to the pair and also to Whoopi Goldberg who is beginning her 10th season with "The View."

NEW YORK - The new season of "Live with Kelly and Ryan" kicked off Tuesday, the first full season featuring new co-host Ryan Seacrest.

The premiere was a celebration of what 's been called their "instant rapport."

They've been hosting together for just a few months, but Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest are so comfortable it seems like they've been together for years. So it may surprise viewers to learn Seacrest was nervous when he stepped out for that first show.

"I'm a fan of the show," he said. "I'm a friend of Kelly Ripa's. I like to do well, and people have me back, and that was what was most concerning to me. I was like, OK, I want her to feel she made the right choice, and I want the team and the audience to feel they want me to come back. And that's what was going through my mind."

Seacrest has signed to host the new ABC version of "American Idol" on the West Coast, and when it comes to the details of his bi-coastal commute, well, just listening to it is exhausting.

"I do this show in the morning live, and the moment the show is over, we have built a radio studio, iHeart Studio, here," he said. "I do that show live to the west coast, and then come spring, we'll add 'American Idol' in Los Angeles one day a week. So 'll be working in two cities simultaneously."

Ripa says she isn't worried about Seacrest being too tired.

"There's a goofy quality that overtakes you when you're running on fumes and exhausted," she said.

And that, apparently, makes for better TV.

"You know, I'm not traveling coast-to-coast like he is doing," Ripa said. "But I am traveling from field hockey game to wrestling tournament, and that is exhausting."

The hosts have tens of millions of followers on social media, and so this week, they got a peek behind the scenes courtesy Facebook.

It's a bid to amp up a show that's already endured 30 years in national syndication, so it can be around for decades more. And speaking of decades, Whoopi Goldberg celebrated 10 years on "The View" Tuesday.

"The View" has made Goldberg a big star all over again, and she said show co-creator Barbara Walters deserves the credit for hiring her during a lull in her long career. Chaka Kahn was on hand to remind everyone "there ain't nobody" like the lady often called the den mother of "The View." But Goldberg argued everyone not get carried away.

She said she thought about leaving to pursue other opportunities, but the chance to talk about President Donald Trump on a daily basis proved too good to pass up.